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Authority definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AUTHOR'ITY, n. [L. auctoritas.]
1. Legal power, or a right to command or to act; as the authority of a prince over subjects, and of parents over children. Power; rule; sway.
2. The power derived from opinion, respect or esteem; influence of character or office; credit; as the authority of age or example, which is submitted to or respected, in some measure, as a law, or rule of action. That which is claimed in justification or support of opinions and measures.
3. Testimony; witness; or the person who testifies; as, the Gospels or the evangelists are our authorities for the miracles of Christ.
4. Weight of testimony; credibility; as a historian of no authority.
5. Weight of character; respectability; dignity; as a magistrate of great authority in the city.
6. Warrant; order; permission.
By what authority dost thou these things. Matthew 21. Acts 9.
7. Precedents, decisions of a court, official declarations, respectable opinions and says, also the books that contain them, are call authorities, as they influence the opinions of others; and in law, the decisions of supreme courts have a binding force upon inferior courts, and are called authorities.
8. Government; the persons or the body exercising power or command; as the local authorities of the states.
In Connecticut, the justices of the peace are denominated the civil authority.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the power or right to give orders or make decisions; "he has the authority to issue warrants"; "deputies are given authorization to make arrests"; "a place of potency in the state" [syn: authority, authorization, authorisation, potency, dominance, say-so]
2: (usually plural) persons who exercise (administrative) control over others; "the authorities have issued a curfew"
3: an expert whose views are taken as definitive; "he is an authority on corporate law"
4: freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities; "his assurance in his superiority did not make him popular"; "after that failure he lost his confidence"; "she spoke with authority" [syn: assurance, self-assurance, confidence, self-confidence, authority, sureness]
5: an administrative unit of government; "the Central Intelligence Agency"; "the Census Bureau"; "Office of Management and Budget"; "Tennessee Valley Authority" [syn: agency, federal agency, government agency, bureau, office, authority]
6: official permission or approval; "authority for the program was renewed several times" [syn: authority, authorization, authorisation, sanction]
7: an authoritative written work; "this book is the final authority on the life of Milton"

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -ties) Etymology: Middle English auctorite, from Anglo-French auctorité, from Latin auctoritat-, auctoritas opinion, decision, power, from auctor Date: 13th century 1. a. (1) a citation (as from a book or file) used in defense or support (2) the source from which the citation is drawn b. (1) a conclusive statement or set of statements (as an official decision of a court) (2) a decision taken as a precedent (3) testimony c. an individual cited or appealed to as an expert 2. a. power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior b. freedom granted by one in authority ; right 3. a. persons in command; specifically government b. a governmental agency or corporation to administer a revenue-producing public enterprise <the transit authority> 4. a. grounds, warrant <had excellent authority for believing the claim> b. convincing force <lent authority to the performance> Synonyms: see influence, power

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 a the power or right to enforce obedience. b (often foll. by for, or to + infin.) delegated power. 2 (esp. in pl.) a person or body having authority, esp. political or administrative. 3 a an influence exerted on opinion because of recognized knowledge or expertise. b such an influence expressed in a book, quotation, etc. (an authority on vintage cars). c a person whose opinion is accepted, esp. an expert in a subject. 4 the weight of evidence. Etymology: ME f. OF autorité f. L auctoritas f. auctor: see AUTHOR

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Authority Au*thor"i*ty, n.; pl. Authorities. [OE. autorite, auctorite, F. autorit['e], fr. L. auctoritas, fr. auctor. See Author, n.] 1. Legal or rightful power; a right to command or to act; power exercised buy a person in virtue of his office or trust; dominion; jurisdiction; authorization; as, the authority of a prince over subjects, and of parents over children; the authority of a court. Thus can the demigod, Authority, Make us pay down for our offense. --Shak. By what authority doest thou these things ? --Matt. xxi. 23. 2. Government; the persons or the body exercising power or command; as, the local authorities of the States; the military authorities. [Chiefly in the plural.] 3. The power derived from opinion, respect, or esteem; influence of character, office, or station, or mental or moral superiority, and the like; claim to be believed or obeyed; as, an historian of no authority; a magistrate of great authority. 4. That which, or one who, is claimed or appealed to in support of opinions, actions, measures, etc. Hence: (a) Testimony; witness. ``And on that high authority had believed.'' --Milton. (b) A precedent; a decision of a court, an official declaration, or an opinion, saying, or statement worthy to be taken as a precedent. (c) A book containing such a statement or opinion, or the author of the book. (d) Justification; warrant. Wilt thou be glass wherein it shall discern Authority for sin, warrant for blame. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(authorities) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. The authorities are the people who have the power to make decisions and to make sure that laws are obeyed. This provided a pretext for the authorities to cancel the elections... N-PLURAL: oft the N 2. An authority is an official organization or government department that has the power to make decisions. ...the Health Education Authority... Any alterations had to meet the approval of the local planning authority. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft in names see also local authority 3. Authority is the right to command and control other people. The judge had no authority to order a second trial. N-UNCOUNT 4. If someone has authority, they have a quality which makes other people take notice of what they say. He had no natural authority and no capacity for imposing his will on others. 5. Authority is official permission to do something. The prison governor has refused to let him go, saying he must first be given authority from his own superiors. = authorization N-UNCOUNT 6. Someone who is an authority on a particular subject knows a lot about it. He's universally recognized as an authority on Russian affairs. = expert N-COUNT: N on n 7. If you say you have it on good authority that something is true, you mean that you believe it is true because you trust the person who told you about it. I have it on good authority that there's no way this light can cause skin cancer. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR that

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Power, sovereignty, dominion, empire, government. 2. Rule, sway, ascendency, supremacy, control, influence, interest. 3. Permission, warrant, warranty, liberty, permit, precept, order, authorization, sanction. 4. Witness, testimony. 5. Credibility, weight of evidence. 6. Respectability, dignity, weight of character. 7. Person of commanding knowledge, leading expert, connoisseur, master, master-mind.

Moby Thesaurus

Admirable Crichton, acme, adept, administration, adviser, affidavit, aficionado, agency, agentship, amateur, amperage, announcer, annunciator, appurtenance, arbiter, arbiter elegantiarum, arbiter of taste, armipotence, artisan, artist, artiste, ascendancy, assignment, attache, attestation, authoritativeness, authorities, authority, authorization, be-all and end-all, beef, bill of health, birthright, black power, blue ribbon, bon vivant, brevet, brute force, buff, care, certificate, certificate of proficiency, certification, championship, channel, charge, charisma, charm, claim, claws, clearance, clout, clutches, cogence, cogency, cognoscente, collector, command, commission, commissioning, commitment, communicant, communicator, compulsion, conduct, conjugal right, connaisseur, connoisseur, consequence, consignment, consultant, control, cordon bleu, countenance, crack shot, craftsman, credential, credit, critic, cure, dead shot, delegated authority, delegation, demand, deposition, deputation, devolution, devolvement, dilettante, dint, diploma, diplomat, diplomatist, direction, directorship, disposition, divine right, doctor, dominance, domination, dominion, drive, droit, due, duress, effect, effectiveness, effectuality, elder, elder statesman, embassy, eminence, empery, empire, empowerment, enabling, enchantment, energy, enfranchisement, enlightener, entitlement, entrusting, entrustment, epicure, epicurean, errand, establishment, esteem, evidence, example, executorship, exemplar, exequatur, experienced hand, experimental scientist, expert, expert consultant, expert witness, factorship, faculty, fan, favor, fiat, first place, first prize, flower power, force, force majeure, forcefulness, freak, full blast, full force, full power, good feeling, good judge, gossipmonger, gourmand, gourmet, governance, government, graduate, grapevine, great soul, greatness, grip, guidance, guru, hand, handling, hands, handy man, headship, hegemony, height, highest, hold, husbandry, ideal, illuminate, imperium, importance, inalienable right, incidental power, influence, influentiality, influentialness, informant, information center, information medium, informer, insinuation, intellect, intellectual, interest, interviewee, iron hand, journeyman, judge, jurisdiction, justness, kingship, lead, leadership, leading, legation, leverage, license, lieutenancy, lordship, lover of wisdom, magisterialness, magnetism, mahatma, main force, main strength, man of intellect, man of science, man of wisdom, mana, management, managery, managing, mandarin, mandate, manipulation, marksman, master, mastermind, mastership, mastery, maven, maximum, mentor, might, might and main, mightiness, mission, model, moment, monitor, most, mouthpiece, moxie, muscle power, navicert, ne plus ultra, new high, newsmonger, no slouch, notarized statement, note, notifier, nut, office, officialdom, officials, oracle, ordering, palms, paramountcy, past master, pattern, personality, persuasion, philosopher, pilotage, pizzazz, plenipotentiary power, police, politician, poop, potence, potency, potentiality, power, power of attorney, power pack, power structure, power struggle, power to act, powerfulness, powers that be, practical scientist, precedence, predominance, preponderance, prepotency, prerogative, prescription, presidency, press, pressure, prestige, presumptive right, pretense, pretension, primacy, priority, pro, procuration, productiveness, productivity, professional, professor, proficient, prominence, proper claim, property right, proxy, public relations officer, publisher, puissance, pull, punch, pundit, purchase, purview, push, rabbi, radio, raj, rank, ratification, record, refined palate, regency, regentship, regnancy, regulation, reign, reporter, repute, responsibility, right, rishi, rule, running, sage, sanction, sapient, savant, say, say-so, scholar, scientist, seer, seniority, shark, sharp, sheepskin, sinew, solidity, soundness, source, sovereignty, specialist, spokesman, standard, starets, statesman, stature, steam, steerage, steering, strength, strings, strong arm, suasion, substantiality, subtle influence, suggestion, superiority, superpower, supremacy, sway, sworn statement, talons, task, technical adviser, technical expert, technician, technologist, television, teller, testamur, testimonial, testimony, the conn, the helm, the wheel, thinker, ticket, tipster, title, top spot, tout, trust, trusteeship, upper hand, validity, vehemence, vested interest, vested right, vicarious authority, vigor, vim, virility, virtue, virtuoso, virulence, visa, vise, vitality, voucher, warrant, warranty, wattage, weight, weightiness, whip hand, wise man, wise old man, witness, wizard, word, zenith